Education

While Berklee's academic focus is music, extracurricular activities and a new liberal arts class combine to educate students about how their use of resources has a lasting impact on the world.

Courses

An introductory environmental science class with geological oceanographer Jennifer Beauregard teaches students about water quality, solid waste management, air pollution, the greenhouse effect, energy sources, and more. The prototype courses Biodiversity and the Sounds of Nature, Concepts in Contemporary Science, Oceanography, and Natural Disasters are coming in the fall of 2011.

Student Environmental Action Movement (SEAM)

Members of Berklee's student environmental club strive to engage their fellow students—and have fun doing it. Past projects have included organizing a Green Week around Earth Day and a Sustainability in the Music Industry panel.

Orientation

Berklee introduces students to sustainability from the moment they arrive on campus. Student Activities emails college-specific green tips with new students' orientation schedules, and Trash Talk—a primer on recycling in the dorms—is a part of the first mandatory resident meeting.

Publications

This sustainability section of Berklee.edu collects information about how faculty, staff, and students are conserving resources and promoting environmental awareness, and connects people around common projects. Posters around campus illustrate what to recycle, and signs in the cafeteria show how to compost and why we should go trayless. Feature stories on Berklee.edu highlight environmental news and events.

Events

The college brings special guests to campus to speak on environmental topics. Last year, these included country singer Kathy Mattea on coal mining and Green Vans cofounder Andy Reitz on sustainable touring.